The present disclosure relates to methods and computer program products related to networks and, more particularly, to regulating computer networks.
As the cost of computing devices has diminished, computers and computer networks have grown increasingly prevalent in use. One example of a network includes the Internet, which has become a common resource for many people and businesses. For example, many households now have personal computers that are connected to the Internet via a high speed service such as, for example, a broadband service.
Although the Internet may provide many useful resources for users, widespread access also provides an avenue for unscrupulous users and/or activities. In this regard, many Internet users do not possess the knowledge and/or sophistication to avoid risks associated with accessing the Internet. Accordingly, many users may fall victim to exploits and/or malicious schemes of undesirable elements on the Internet, such as, for example, hackers. In some instances, hackers may be capable of surreptitiously hijacking a user's personal computer and using it for fraudulent purposes. For example, hackers may plant spyware on users' personal computers in order to illegally obtain valuable identifying information.
Additionally, a user's personal computer may be used by a hacker to engage in Internet piracy of copyright protected materials. Internet piracy may account for significant bandwidth usage, which may be problematic for a service provider. Thus far, copyright protection measures that have been deployed by, for example, the entertainment industry, have failed to curtail increases in Internet piracy. For example, millions of downloads may result from just one file that is posted on a shared network. Thus, efforts to date have been insufficient in protecting a user and/or a service provider from the results of unwanted network activity, which may pose significant risks to the user, network and/or service provider.